Ford Motor Credit to cut 1,200 jobs-reports

NEW YORK Jan 28 (Reuters) - Ford Motor Co.'s (F.N: Cotización) finance
unit plans to cut a fifth of its workforce, or about 1,200
people, to save money, reports said on Tuesday.

More details of the cutbacks, which were reported by
Automotive News and Bloomberg News, are expected on Thursday
when the automaker and its finance unit release fourth-quarter
and full-year results, Automotive News reported.

The first pink slips will go out in mid-February, according
to the Automotive News, which said the cuts would include
involuntary layoffs, some planned attrition and retirements.

"This will help keep our costs in line with the level of
receivables we have," both reports quoted Ford spokeswoman
Margaret Mellott as saying.

Ford was not immediately available for comment in response
to the reports.

Ford is expected to post a hefty fourth-quarter loss, but
the key question for investors and creditors is whether it will
turn to the government for support. Ford has previously said it
does not need state-backed loans. [ID:nN28528351]

The U.S. auto market, the world's largest, fell to 26-year
lows in December and is expected to have fallen further at the
start of this year, ratcheting up the pressure on an already
reeling industry.

Ford has sought a $9 billion line of credit to use as
insurance against a worsening in the global economy.

Analysts on average expect Ford to post a fourth-quarter
loss of $1.22 per share before one-time items, according to
Reuters Estimates. That would translate to a loss of more than
$2.8 billion.

In November, Ford said it planned to improve automotive
cash by $14 billion to $17 billion through 2010 through a
number of cost cuts, including reducing expenses for salaried
workers by 10 percent by the end of January in North America.
(Reporting by Christopher Kaufman; Editing by Anshuman Daga)